Why is Russia banning Instagram? Reason explained as app users from the country bid farewell to platform 

Russia has decided to ban Instagram in the country. The change in Instagram's policy is said to be temporary. Meta's Global Affairs President, Nick Clegg, explained that the changes in the hate speech of the app were temporary and were a result of "extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances."

The company believes that Ukrainians should be given the right to express "their resistance and fury" against the Russian military forces. However, the platform will block any hate speech against Russian civilians for violating community policies.

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, criticized Russia's decision to block the app, calling it "wrong" and explaining that the ban would cut off 80 million Russians from the world.

The ban will also have adverse effects on social media influencers in the country, many of whom were heavily saddened by the news.

Actress Olga Buzova (@buzova86) shared a farewell video on her profile which has a massive following of 23 million. The influencer wept while addressing her fans and wrote:

"I'm writing this post and crying, I hope this isn't true."

Another influencer, Karina Nigay (@karina_nigay), shared with her 3 million followers that she was still in the process of accepting the ban. She posted:

"I'm in a state of resentment and nowhere near a state of acceptance."

The ban will not affect WhatsApp, which is considered to be a messaging app, however, authorities have encouraged citizens to migrate to Russian-built versions of Instagram.

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Reasons behind Russia's ban of Meta's Instagram

The ban came as a counter step after the app decided to allow the posting of messages such as "Death to Russian invaders" by Ukrainian citizens on the app.

As per CNBC, the country's officials have also decided to launch a criminal case against the app and its parent company, Meta Platforms Inc for "calls to commit violent acts” against Russian soldiers. A government representative explained:

“A criminal case has been initiated … in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation by employees of the American company Meta, which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram.”

As per Reuters, Russian representative regulator Roskomnadzor justified the ban by saying that it is meant to save the country's citizens from online bullying and harassment. The statement included:

"We need to ensure the psychological health of citizens, especially children and adolescents, to protect them from harassment and insults online."

The ban was announced a few days ago, giving app users “time to transfer their photos and videos to other social networks and notify their followers” before coming into effect on March 14.